Allison Hart Borden

Lt. Col. Phinney

/ Matthew K Barrett / Leave a comment

Lieutenant Colonel E.C. Phinney
85th (Nova Scotia Highlanders) Battalion
Phinney

Nothing is so picturesque or evokes so much human interest as the rapid rise of a young man to high and important positions. This is true of a civilian and truer of a soldier … A six-footer, every inch of his body compacted of sound bone and muscle, it might have been expected that he was born to be a stalwart athlete and a leader of men. His career is proof of the fact.

(Evening Mail, 11 Mar 1916, 7)

Born in Bear River, Nova Scotia on 16 May 1886, Earle Caleb Phinney was an all-round athlete and graduate of Dalhousie Law School. He joined the 40th Battalion as a lieutenant and by March 1916 was a major in the 85th under Lieutenant Colonel Allison Hart Borden. When Borden was elevated to command the Highlander Brigade (85th, 185th, 193rd, 219th Battalions), Phinney assumed command of the 85th. After arriving in England in October 1916, the brigade was broken up. Only the 85th Battalion would go to France.

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The Fisherman

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Lieutenant Colonel F. P. Day
185th (Cape Breton Highlanders) and 25th Battalions Day

The war was over; I came home tired and worn-out, obsessed with one idea—I wanted rest, quiet, and peace; I wanted never to speak again without necessity or to give or receive an order. I wanted to live in the woods, and be alone along my streams.

(F. P. Day, The Autobiography of a Fisherman, 1927, 144)

When Lieutenant Colonel John Wise was wounded during the battle of Amiens on 8 August 1918, Major Frank Parker Day took command of the 25th Nova Scotia Rifles. Day had raised the 185th Highlander Battalion from Cape Breton and sailed from Halifax to England in October 1916. After the Highlanders were absorbed into the 17th Reserve Battalion, Day reverted in rank and joined the 25th on the front.

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The Manly Man

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Lieutenant Colonel A. H. Borden, D.S.O.
85th (Nova Scotia Highlanders) BattalionBorden

Oh, wha is foremaist and a’ and a’,
Oh, wha does follow the blaw, the blaw,
Colonel Borden, the king o’ us a’ hurra’,
Wi’ his hundred Pipers and a’ and a’,
His bonnet and feather he’s wavin’ high,
His prancing steed maist seems to fly.
He’ll lead us to Berlin across the Rhine,
Wi’ his 85th Highlanders bonny and fine.

(Songs of the 85th Battalion, 1917, 16)

In September 1915, Allison Hart Borden raised the 85th Nova Scotia Highlanders, nicknamed with the Gaelic motto Siol na Fear Fearail (The Breed of Manly Men). Encouraged by rapid recruitment in the province, Borden proposed a four battalion Highlander Brigade from the Maritimes. The battalions (the 85th, 185th, 193rd, 219th) departed Canada in October 1916. After arriving in England, the Brigade was broken up to the dismay and confusion of many citizens and politicians in the province.

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